Dean's 'its okay smile' and a Slinky
by unspokenmind
Summary: Repost. Set somewhere after 7x16. – Things have been rough for a while, but sometimes, for both Sam and Dean, something as small as a slinky can make it alright for a little while.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Supernatural.

**Title: **Adventures with a Slinky

**Summary: **Repost. – Things have been rough for a while, but sometimes, for both Sam and Dean, something as small as a slinky can make it alright for a little while.

Sam hauled to a stop outside of their motel when he heard the sound of Dean's raspy laughter. He had almost forgotten what Dean sounded like when he laughed or how he looked – how if something was really funny, he'd throw his head back. All he was left with nowadays was a grumpy Dean who forced a strained smile to convey assurance for his little brother – the classical, signature smile of Dean Winchester. The _'it's okay' _smile, reserved for his brother, no matter how much things weren't okay.

Sam arched back carefully and pinched the bridge of his nose; he cringed in disgust when he thought about what might be the occasion for Dean's current amusement. He had probably brought a companion back with him from some bar he'd gone to, but when Sam glanced at the watch on his wrist, he realized that it was way too early for Dean to have gone someplace to pick up someone – let alone come back.

Sam would, however, not dare to risk his mind from a traumatically scarring picture of his brother hooking up with someone. He didn't dare to open the door – afraid of being blinded by something that was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. He turned around to see the Impala in the parking lot and shifted uneasily in his jacket and pinned his stare to his feet, deciding to open the door to the motel room which he and Dean were sharing.

Sam was simply going to ask for the keys to the Impala and drive away for a time or just sit in the car while listening to music, basically anything in order just to be away from whatever gross thing Dean was up to at the moment.

The sound of Dean's laughing became louder and clearer as Sam stepped inside the room, but there was no other sound to why Dean would be laughing – there weren't any evidence for a companion of being present – no sound, no clothes carelessly thrown away – not even the television was on. Sam felt confused and a tad intimidated too. He hoped his brother hadn't lost his mind… or something relatively close to that, but losing one's mind seemed more like Sam's kind of thing.

He buried that thought away as quickly as it came, bringing his head up and letting his gaze lock on Dean's frame. In an instant, just at the view of his brother, Sam lit up and started grinning like a fool. ''Dean,'' Sam breathed in relief and greeting at the same time. He observed the source of Dean's entertainment and couldn't help but notice that at this current moment, Dean looked no older than a five year old.

''Hey Sammy, check it out!'' Dean greeted back, slowly ripping his gaze away from the item in his hand, looking at Sam for a split second, and later finding himself staring back at the item again. ''I found it somewhere deep down in one of the duffel bags, I hadn't thrown it out, after all,'' Dean explained as Sam sat down on the end of the bed, eyes still fixed on Dean.

Dean played around with the giant rainbow slinky, tossing it from his one hand to the other – and it didn't matter how long he had spent doing this – it was still amusing and causing him a short moment of happiness.

And even though slinkies weren't really Sam's thing, he was content and happy, too, because his brother was laughing and smiling. Never mind the fact that that was the slinky Sam had gotten Dean from Plucky's a while ago. A shiver ran down his spine just at the thought of that place and he tried to hide the shudder from Dean, but realized later that it wasn't necessary, because the slinky was still Dean's main and only focus.

''How long have you been playing around?'' Sam asked, laughing a little as he shrugged out of his jacket, watching Dean wandering around the room, coming up with several ways of playing with a slinky. There was a hint of teasing in his voice that Dean wasn't deaf to. ''Not long enough to find it boring,'' Dean retorted in defence, setting his guard up for his childlike behaviour.

He finally gripped the slinky in one hand, stopped walking around and looked at his little brother. ''Wanna try?'' He stretched out his palm where the slinky rested and Sam swore that Dean couldn't get any lamer than this, but he couldn't say no to his big brother's goofy smiling face that was looking down at him, beaming at him. Sam rolled his eyes at the answer that rolled out of his tongue. _The stuff he did for his brother…_

But if Dean would suffer hell – literally – for Sam, then why on earth wouldn't Sam play with a slinky, no matter how dull and childish he found it to be? ''Sure, why not?'' Sam responded and Dean tossed the slinky at his brother.

Sam might've been laughing at Dean before, but to Dean, Sam wasn't reacting any differently. Sam looked just as pleased as Dean and his attention was reserved for the slinky so he couldn't see the way his big brother was looking at him with his strained smile – the _'it's okay' _smile, because right now, in this very short moment, everything truly was okay.


End file.
